2021 IIHF World Championships
Game 03
Great Britain 2 Denmark 3 OT
The 9-0 loss to Denmark in the 2019 World Championships wrinkled with GB in the tournament and will have been a wrong they badly wished to right this time around.
Great Britain did more than that, forcing Denmark into shutting up shop in the third period before clinching a point with a late goal.
First Period
There were contrasting fortunes for GB in the first three minutes.
Matthew Myers was injured in the opening shift and would require his right wrist to be strapped on the bench.
On their first spell of offensive zone-time possession, the underdogs turned the form book on its head by scoring first.
The puck was cycled by Robert Down and David Phillips to Ben O’Connor on the far left corner of the blue line.
Never one to shy away from shooting, O’Connor put the puck on target without it being a bullet of an effort.
Sebastian Dahm had trouble tracking the effort with sticks waving to get a tip on the shot and the puck found the top corner of his net.
Denmark so nearly tied the game up at the six-minute mark but Oliver Lauridsen smashed his effort in tight off the crossbar.
The Danes would deliver a tying marker at the midway stage of the period and it’s one Great Britain would likely want back.
A broken play followed a defensive zone face-off and GB were simply outworked down low and
Julian Jakobsen duly backhanded a shot through traffic, beating Bowns five-hole.
GB attempted to regain the lead and went close to doing so two minutes later.
Liam Kirk dished the puck to Brendan Connolly who drove hard to the middle of the zone. His resulting shot brought a fine shoulder save and in the melee that followed, the puck wouldn’t drop kindly for Kirk who had followed up the play.
An ill-advised penalty taken by Ross Venus allowed Denmark to tally a go-ahead marker on the power play.
Niklas Jensen made no mistake with an emphatic finish, his second point of the period after assisting on the tying goal.
GB fought off a second man advantage for Denmark, killing off the final seconds early in the middle frame.
Second Period
Great Britain started to take control of the game in the second period and was unfortunate not to draw themselves level.
Ben Lake went close with an effort direct from a face-off ninety seconds in.
At the four-minute mark, it was a combination of relentless forechecking and pressure from Myers plus the skill and skating of Kirk to tee up Connolly. Dahm swallowed up the Sheffield forward’s one-time effort from the right circle.
Denmark couldn’t make hay on a third power play and there one chance of note came via Niklas Andersen who brought the best out of Bowns.
GB had some nice looks on their first power-play including a booming shot from Robert Dowd that was only denied by a fantastic blow.
A late push saw Brett Perlini tee up Kirk but the 21-year old couldn’t quite get off the shot he wanted on a bouncing puck.
A lone rush from Lake into some space on the left-wing allowed him to rip a shot which forced Dahm into an excellent shoulder save.
Third Period
The final frame of regulation was a tight and tense affair with Denmark shutting up shop and Great Britain struggling to gain enough offensive zone time to put their opponents under pressure.
GB failed to get anything going on a power play and had to wait until the final six minutes before testing Denmark’s resolve.
O’Connor and Perlini went close before an exulted GB squad celebrated a tying goal with 56:18 on the clock.
Mike Hammond sent a long pass in behind the Denmark defense for Lake to chase down and the Belfast forward utilised his speed to great effect.
Having won the race, Lake shrugged off the attention of one defenseman a the backboard and then from the goal line picked his moment to find Hammon flying into the slot.
Having netted four times in 2019, there was never any doubt that the 31-year-old would find the back of the net.
Regulation finished with four-on-four action and Bowns had to make one key save, denying Matias Lassen, to ensure Great Britain would earn at least a point.
Overtime Period
Penalties were the story of overtime. A hooking call on Liam Kirk looked weak, to say the least, but there was no doubt Lake was guilty of tripping with 2:28 remaining in the extra frame.
Denmark would make the second power-play count as Markus Lauridsen rifled home a shot that Bowns had no chance of stopping.
GB Player of the Game: Josh Tetlow (well deserved for an excellent defensive performance)
Post Game Notes:
Great Britain’s improvement by period and game continued into this encounter.
They had Denmark effectively trying to hold onto a narrow lead and that’s a huge leap forward from the 9-0 shellacking two years ago.
This was a performance fitting of honouring Captain Jonathan Phillips who earned his 100th cap against Denmark.
Phillips is only the third player in GB history to be capped a hundred times or more.
Sam Jones becomes the 421st player to ice for Great Britain and Ciaran Long the 422nd – both were awarded their debut caps ahead of this game.
GB was called for six penalties and allowed two goals against on five power plays. The officiating was pretty awful in the main but three of the infractions were needless and easy to call. An area to clear up after being so diligent against Slovakia.
Placed on a line with Lake and Perlini, Mike Hammond thrived and this trio has to be kept together for tomorrow’s game at least.
Hammond’s goal was his first of the tournament and a decisive finish when it was most needed.
Ben Bowns only faced twenty-three shots but still made key saves.
An interesting decision to give him this start after the coaches opted to split the weekend games.
They may go back to Bowns tomorrow against Belarus.
One thing I’d change: Liam Kirk has to be on the top power-play unit. That’s a no-brainer in my opinion
Line-up
Forwards:
Kirk-Connolly-Dowd
Lake-Perlini-Hammond
Davies-Myers-J.Phillips
Lachowicz-Long-Betteridge
Venus
Defense:
Tetlow-Richardson
O’Connor-D.Phillips
Swindlehurst-Clements
Jones
Goaltenders:
Bowns
Whistle
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